Question from Bayville, New Jersey, USA:

My seven year old daughter has been exhibiting some ominous symptoms. Approximately two to four months ago, she started having abdominal cramps, and has since progressed to having them multiple times during the day with the mornings being the most uncomfortable. She has increased mood swings from extremely hyperactive to almost pale and exhausted. Her breath has a very funny sweet, almost fermented smell and she has increased thirst, but not so much urination although that, too, has increased slightly. We have a family history of type 2 diabetes with her father’s grandmother, great grandmother and grandfather and multiple cousins diagnosed, along with two cousins diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

My son suffers with hypoglycemia and during the times I tested him, I occasionally tested my daughter. She has tested sometimes in the 280 to 450 mg/dl [15.6 to 25 mmol/L] range, but my pediatrician feels it has to do with what she might have eaten right before.

Short of calling me a hypochondriac mother, he has ordered fasting sugars and urine along with abdominal and pelvic sonograms. Could the stomach cramps have anything to do with the possibility of being diagnosed with diabetes or are we looking at two different possibilities?